The Ojai Valley News lost a great friend last week when part-time sports writer Tim Tuttle passed away unexpectedly. The news of Tim’s passing hit me like a ton of bricks and I am still trying to gather my thoughts and emotions. Although we normally communicated from afar, I grew to really like and respect Tim, so his passing is a huge loss.

Tim emailed me out of the blue a few years ago and in his typical humble fashion informed me that he grew up in Ojai and had “done a little sports writing” in the past and would be

The Nordhoff High School football program got its season under way July 31 with the linemen getting in some agility work. According to head coach Lance Wiggins, the bigs up front will be a strength of this year’s squad. NHS will put in work before opening the season Aug. 25 in Hueneme at 7 p.m. The program also will host its annual Casino Night Aug. 12 at the Ojai Valley Community Church. For more details, call Mike Dawkins at 340-1057.

Raegan Mang runs away from defenders in a game against The Thacher School last season. Mang has rushed for more than 3,000 yards in his three seasons as a starting quarterback.

Mike Miller,Ojai Valley News sports editor

Catching up with Villanova Preparatory School quarterback Raegan Mang is no easy task, just ask the defensive players in the Condor League. However, the Ojai Valley News was able to get Mang to sit still long enough to answer a handful of questions before the senior begins his final season as a Wildcat.

Mang has been Villanova’s starting quarterback since his freshman year and while his stats

Several 14U Ojai volleyball players participated in club volleyball this summer and will now transition into local high schools.

Things should be looking up for years to come for fans of Nordhoff High School (NHS) girls’ volleyball. As always, the fortunes of the team can swing on the graduation or arrival of one or two key talented players. This year something remarkable is coming into play, a battle-tested, pre-packaged

Scout Mathews, a standout at Ojai’s Weil Tennis Academy, hammers a serve at this week’s New Balance High School National Championship, in Ojai. The 15-year-old Mathews entered as the No. 3 seed in the Girls’ 18 singles, but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Madeline Almeida of El Dorado Hills, Calif. See next week’s Ojai Valley News for the final results of the national championship event.